Home Office Security and Update

I know, I know, you had hoped for a major update with pictures of the new final completed Home Office 7.0 and instead you’re getting something completely different!

Let’s start with a small update on the office. I have sorted out the insurance claim with the moving company about the two servers that arrived in a non-working state and replacements are going to be built in the next week or two. I’m also expanding the office with a set of other new systems. But not the kind you might expect. I’m adding two small Atom based systems and, depending on specs and details that I’m still working out, 3 small low-power Xeon based Mini-ITX systems (2 x 1TB HD, 40GB SSD, 16GB RAM, something along those lines). I’ve been pondering that idea for a while after having read Bryan’s excellent write-up about the case for thin Mini-ITX systems. More details will follow and, yes, yes, I will take great new pictures for the final-and-complete office once it’s actually final and complete. Which at this rate is several months behind schedule.

In the meantime, people often ask me what I do about security and protection at home, especially with the office being a possible target of ill-willed criminals and other likeminded varmint. I normally don’t go into details about that and answer in rather broad terms that we have an excellent alarm system that is being monitored 24-7 by a professional security company. However, recently we extended the “home office defense system” (ha ha) with a new firewall and a thing that can fire very nicely at any kind of wall. And not just walls. Meet the home office protection device! You might wonder what on earth I’d need a “tactical assault rifle” for, amongst other things. The answer to that might be a long story.

First of all, it makes for a funny picture on a blog that normally talks about other types of hardware. Second, because it’s fun to get some shock value out of people who may take my statement about “home office protection” too literal. 🙂

But in reality, the answer is much simpler. With gun rights and the 2nd amendment being a hot topic in the United States, and the fact that it is still (and likely will continue to be) completely legal to own firearms of different types, the fact of the matter is that all throughout the US there is a massive shortage on guns and ammunition. Why? Because everyone is expecting various forms of gun-grabbing and gun-banning legislation to pass which may make owning and using various firearms illegal or impossible and are buying EVERYTHING they can get their hands on because it would be extremely unlikely they would actively come to disarm the American public everyone who already owns firearms will have them exempt of any new laws as they are “grandfathered” in. You might say that the current government may actually be up for the award of best gun-sales-people. Either that or this is some really misunderstood attempt at a new form of “economic stimulus”.

I’ve been on the lookout for something like that, fully intending to buy what is available and as it so happened, our local gun & hunting store, Hook Line & Sinker just happened to have just received 4 of these things. So a day later we went in and got one. Of course, I “pimped it up” by adding some rail protectors, a forward collapsable grip, a red dot scope, a (very intense and bright) tactical flashlight, a laser beam (yes guys, just like that stuff you see in the movies ha ha), and a bipod at the front. And no, you’re right, this is most definitely not an “airsoft” gun. 🙂

Now, if you’re someone who’s a little familiar with firearm ownership and usage you will probably understand what this is and how it’s used. So I will not waste any time trying to state the obvious and educate people by preaching to the choir. However, there have also been a few people who think of these things as “weapons of war” and get this completely insane and totally false images in their heads of the kind of stuff they see in modern day movies (you know, the kind where they make it look as if a grenade thrown into a building will blow up the entire structure in a spectacular way, as if a Maverick missile has hit it?).

And in a way that’s both funny and sad. Funny that people who have absolutely no experience with any kind of firearms have completely misguided ideas about it. But sad that they don’t understand the difference between rifles that look like fully automatic assault rifles but are in fact not that at all. Of course, they’re semi-automatic because the automatic kind has been banned from sales to the people for a very long time already. In other words, if you put some cool colored LED lights into your computer case it doesn’t automatically make it the kind of super-computer you see in the movies. But the sad fact remains that people with no experience whatsoever who can’t even tell the difference between a tactical rifle, assault rifle, automatic, semi-automatic, nor have a clue about ammunition types and sizes, will always hang onto a false belief based on nothing but their own unfortunate fears.

It has also been interesting hearing my European friends wish for the same freedom as we have here instead of being jailed for many years for ownership of such a firearm. It’s very interesting to understand that while many countries have very nasty laws about firearm ownership, there is still a very large percentage of the population who are not, often never have been, in favor of such and instead would prefer to have the right to defend themselves by any and all means possible instead of waiting for the slow response time of the police and ending up being just another statistic; a victim of the varmint that will always have access to firearms, no matter how much they are “banned”.

Another question some of my friends in The Netherlands have asked me is whether it is strange to own (and practice with) such a rifle. Being from a country where I would never be allowed to own a rifle like that my answer might be surprising; I’ve always considered it strange that in other countries you are notallowed to own firearms. Of course, those then also happen to be the kind of countries where the punishment for defending yourself or your property is often much harsher than the criminal who nearly killed you or your family while trying to take what is yours. Or, like several years ago, when The Netherlands had a total idiot in the position of minister for justice who said that “yelling boo!” to burglars and robbers would be the best course of action. I was recently asked what I was afraid of that I’d buy a “thing like that”. It’s difficult not to joke about it, but really, with a “thing like that” there’s very little to be afraid of. But seriously, it’s almost as irrelevant a question as it would be if I asked someone who pays for fire insurance for their home whether they’re so afraid of fire. Or someone who buys health-care insurance about whether they are so terribly afraid of diseases and health problems. 🙂

Since the rifle has very low recoil it’ll be interesting to see how Sallie is going to be doing at the range. I think she’ll be pleasantly surprised about how accurate she might end up being with it.

Comments

That presumes a burglar is not going to try harming (or killing) you, your family, etc. over what they may believe is worth that sort of action for them. Unfortunately that’s not always the case as home invasions are often violent. Just standing aside and telling them “please take it all” is, as far as I know, not usually how that works out.

Neh. It’s a .22 LR. Not much of a “weapon of war” at all. But you’re right about the ammo being in extremely short supply. For just about *any* caliber at the moment. Getting .22LR is getting very difficult as well.

As a lifelong shooter the minimum should be 9mm, but in reality the best bang for your buck so to speak is a 12ga. shotgun. A 12ga. pump has the sound, the look and the ability to go through doors, walls, whatever. .22LR does not. Unless you get a headshot, someone could probably absorb 15-20 rounds and still come at you.

Great little target gun, but time to consider an upgrade for ‘home defense’.

Of course a .22LR is not a home defense weapon. I knew, however, that anyone who knew anything about firearms would immediately be able to recognize that. Though perhaps I was trying to be to obfuscated when it came to the part where I also figured people (with an understanding of firearms) would understand it the way it was meant and see what the purpose of the post was (partially funny because of the “home office defense” angle but with a much more serious undertone to get people to actually learn something about firearms instead of aggressing against them and legal ownership).

The problem in the whole debate is, as I’m assuming you’re aware of, there are too many people *unlike* you who see something and jump to all sorts of conclusions. Simply because they don’t know any better. Educating them by sparking their interest a little, amongst my own readers, is something to be encouraged. Especially since quite a few are somewhat “shocked” at the concept of firearm ownership and for whatever reason had not expected that of me (and I honestly don’t know why since I don’t think I’ve ever given off a vibe that I’m opposed to gun ownership).

As I’m saying in a longer comment here, I bought it for Sallie. Primarily because it’s a good practice rifle that adds some extra bits of fun, not unlike how one would pimp up a car and because there is virtually no recoil. For home defense we’re relying on something a little bit different.Thought we do keep joking that it would be easy to use the rifle to knock a burglar unconscious. 🙂

It’s also a good, ‘check your pants’ gun, I’ll give you that. A burglar / intruder wouldn’t be able to tell caliber in the dark, and a tactical light shining with a laser should scare most anyone anyway lol. However, just want to be prepared in case it doesn’t 😉

I am totally on the same page about educating people, it’s something that drives me crazy more than the gun grab itself is the actual reasons I hear thrown around about ‘why it’s a GOOD idea’.

To Colin K. (and anyone else interested in learning a little about terminal ballistics and self defense)Please don’t take this the wrong way, as I mean no disrespect, but your comment about 12 ga. vs .22 (i.e:the ability to go through doors, walls, whatever. .22LR does not.)

First of all, a .22 LR can definitely penetrate walls. Secondly, the penetration of a wall or door is about the worst thing that can happen in a self defense situation, as one of the most important rules of firearms safety is to know what is in front of, and behind your target. in a best case scenario, a computer, server, television, or some miscellaneous piece of furniture bites a bullet; in the worst case a family member could be hit by stray gunfire. You should never shoot through a door or wall knowingly, and all precautions should be taken to ensure that you do not do so accidentally as well.

Secondly, ANY modern caliber weapon is capable of killing someone, and likewise a person can take “10 to 15 shots” of any modern handgun caliber and keep walking. It all depends on shot placement, and what type of chemical enhancements the perpetrator is on (if any). As a firearms enthusiast, firearms owner, concealed carrier, and general nerd, I have taken the time to carefully research information related to the defensive use of firearms, as well as ballistic information on the ammunition that my various weapons use, .22 LR being among them.It is true that at longer ranges the effectiveness of the .22 diminishes greatly, but we are discussing using the weapon in the confines of a home, where distance will be minimal. A .22 round will not cause substantial trauma to a person, but it is definitely enough to stop a threat, and that is what defensive firearm use is all about, stopping a threat. If I ever feel the need to use any of my defensive weapons in a self defense situation, killing someone isn’t my primary concern, nor is it a concern at all. I will shoot to stop a threat. If the person dies as a result of his actions, then so be it. You never shoot to kill, you only shoot to live.

Third, and my final point, is that the only effective weapon is the one that you can use. A 5.56 AR, a 12 gauge shotgun, or a handgun are very effective defensive weapons, but they do no good sitting on a store shelf, or banned from ownership (as is the case in California for a great deal of weapons). If that is the only weapon he has access to, then that is the best weapon for self defense.

Sorry just have to say “Finger off the trigger” thats the first thing I thought. One thing most don’t know is the 22LR is can be vary deadly as it enters the head but doesn’t have enough power to exit instead bounces around doing more damage. A pistol might be another good choice for home defense.

It’s really crazy out here with all the BS laws that really make no difference at all, except for making it more difficult for law abiding folks to defend themselves. But you could say that Diane Feinstein is directly and personally responsible for me, and many others in CA, to run out and buy up just about everything we can.

There are actually several reasons, not just a single one. The funny reason being that gun-grabbers piss me off so I decided to write something that I know will return the favor. Especially since it’s because of gun-grabber type legislation that is being proposed (and in some states passed, overnight!) that millions of Americans have been buying anything and everything they can get their hands on before it’s banned. Either that or people are at a very serious point where they no longer trust the people they elected to represent them.

So for the same reason, when I heard our local gun store had a few of these things around I decided to buy Sallie one (it is, actually, her rifle, call it a valentines day present since that’s what we joke about) before they’re all sold out again. Being a supporter of the 2nd amendment and responsible ownership of firearms (somehow people think that just because I’m Dutch I must be one of those crazy anti-gun people who thinks people should never have the right to defend themselves at all) also means you can’t talk the talk without being an owner of firearms.

There are other reasons to own firearms, though, very valid ones. Like a decent handgun for in-home protection, provided you are responsible enough to treat your weapon and your use of it properly) and shotguns for varmint and other dangerous situations. Heck, we get some interesting things out here where I live, including rattle snakes. The cheapest and easiest way to deal with those is, indeed, a shotgun.

The reason for the whole blog post and the provocative image is that it’s time for those who support responsible firearm ownership to speak up instead of just sit idly by and watch what happens. I know that there are all too many people out there who have no clue about firearms at all and will freak out at the sight of something like what I’m holding there. Just because “it looks scary”. I treat that reaction similar to people who, over the many years, have randomly accused me of working for the CIA right down to being some nefarious villain hacker that walked out of a James Bond movie. People who don’t understand what they see often go around propagating the very inaccurate and false information that is causing a lot more people to fear something that makes no sense at all.

Of course, I also do have a bit of history when it comes to controversial topics. 🙂

Hello Mr. Didak, that was an excelent post, even better than final Office 7.0.
Because only think better then good computer hardware are some good quality and reliable guns :-). I am IT technician and also big gun enthusiast. I am recommend you to add some good pistol to your little arsenal – I am a big fan of German Heckler & Koch guns, they are most reliable and best quality build production service guns on the world. Some comercional stuff like Glocks or S&W M&P are not appropriate for perfectionist/detailist like you or me :-).
H&K P30 or P30L/LS in 9 mm Luger is the best choice for modern standart production combat pistol or HK45 if you preffer 45 ACP calliber. You like good quality stuff, so H&K is exactly right stuff for you ;-). Some really good H&K endurance tests are here: http://pistol-training.com/
You can also visit HK forum here: http://www.hkpro.com/forum/
Good pistol such as P30LS is very good even for repairing some faulthy harddrives…http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/685/60223745.jpg/http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/268/56555132.jpg/http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/252/44685295.jpg/
I am using it pretty often with an excelent result – no more HDD failures in my home office, because all my harddrives are afraid of this service procedure, so they rather working flawlessly :-D.

I’ve been following your blog for a little while now, and although my setup isn’t nearly as expansive (or expensive) as yours, I have gleaned quite a bit of useful data in managing my own system. I must admit that I never imagined you as a second amendment enthusiast, but obviously appearances can be deceiving.

All I can say is bravo Mr. Didak for publicly standing up for the second amendment.

I have to ask, though… you say you “never imagined me as a 2nd amendment guy”. I’m intrigued. What is it that would have implied otherwise? I never really spoke up about issues regarding self government, self defense, and ownership of firearms before either way. 🙂

The thing is that I’m from a country (The Netherlands) where ownership of firearms is bound and limited in such a way that you can only own any if you are a registered “sports shooter” and that requires a lot of effort, interviews with your local police department, a psych profile, and a few more things. Yet crime is rampant and the government and courts tend to judge any form of self defense as a criminal act. In more common terms, those who have defended themselves against burglars, robbers, and the like, tend to put it along the lines of “you must be close to death or dead already before you are even allowed to raise you voice against your attacker”.

While that is technically an exaggeration, a few year ago the minister of justice said that the best way to deal with attackers and burglars and such is to yell “boooooeeeee” real loud at them because “that’s what he would do”. Easy to say for folks that have tax payer sponsored armed guards at their private residence, isn’t it? 🙂

After legally migrating into the the US (and boy, that in itself is worthy of an entire site or perhaps a whole book!) I gained all the same rights as US citizens. Except for one; voting rights. For that I would have to become a US citizen and due to financial factors (i.e. I’m over 40 and paid into the mandatory tax-based pension system all my life ever since I started working at 17) I’m not sure I want to go that route. However, everything else applies equally. So a few months ago I decided to make use of my 2nd amendment rights as a legal permanent resident. All I can say is that what I put on my blog is just bits and pieces at any given time but I’m starting to see that buying guns, ammo, etc. is much like computers; it can suck up large amounts of money even though it’s both useful and fun at the same time. The whole “pimping up a server” vs. “tactically outfitting your firearms” are not that different really. As a computer type myself, yes, I like pimping out a server as much as anything. It’s just fun. The computers are useful in many ways. So are firearms, in a different way.

I’ve lived on both sides of what the 2nd amendment represents. I have had a friend of mine go to jail for defending himself (which in the US would have usually been a clear cut case of self defense) and yet also have friends in the US who think of gun ownership of any kind to be related to being a “baby blood drinking republican voting constitution kissing racist gun toting something-or-other” (I’m just putting the whole thing in one term here). All I can say is that if you understand the world in a global way, the government and what it is supposed to be and not be, and how liberty and freedom should be determining factors in how someone lives their lives, the part about being able to (responsibly) own firearms and if the situation ever arises need to use them, is definitely a form of freedom that the US has been known for and promoted. Not as much lately, though, but I suspect you know about that too.

I love the liberty that the 2nd amendment provides. I like shooting guns and the challenge of hitting the bullseye and all that. I can’t say whether I ever held or shot a gun while being in Holland because that would be an act of incriminating myself (think about that for a second) so I won’t go there. 🙂 And after moving to a part of California where the majority of people are similar minded it really wasn’t a “huge step” to join in on that. In fact, as a director of the chamber of commerce of Oakley I’ve been proposing we hold a gun show here (as a fund raiser for the chamber as well as involving the community and putting on an event that a majority of residents would like to have). But at the same time I realize that some people (and there’s a lot of those based on my website analysis!) will think I’m one of the “crazy people” now and that moving to the US has “changed me completely”. Nothing could be further from the truth though because if my country of origin allowed me the means of self defense and firearm ownership I would have done so there legally a long time ago!

I don’t believe gun ownership and 2nd amendment rights are a republican vs. democrat issue. Then again I haven’t been subject to the belief of that entire split-the-population false paradigm belief for a very long time. But it does mean that there’s always people that are stuck on either side who will have to see it from their perspective, tainted as it may be. I think that if more people ditched their TV’s and did their own research and really understood the things that are going on, did go on in history, and may be going on in the future, that the whole issue of firearm ownership would be a totally moot point.

Forgive me for making unfounded assertions sir, it was simply a statistical guess. One of the posts you made regarding v7.0 of your home office stated, If I recall correctly, that you live in California. I had no idea that you weren’t from that area originally, and from a purely data driven standpoint, your place of residence, coupled with your line of work would indicate that you are more likely than not to be in favor of tighter restrictions on second amendment rights. I was wrong, and for that I apologize.

I personally identify myself as a libertarian, and from my own political philosophy, I absolutely agree that far too many people fail to do their own research into the issues that affect this Republic. If more people actually looked at the data (which is easily obtainable) instead of listening to political propagandists, ineffective and ultimately right-infringing legislation (such as the current crop of gun control legislation, as well as Orwellian privacy invading legislation such as CISPA) would never even make it to the floor of either house.

I apologize for getting so far off topic, and I look forward to seeing more of your hardware, either with the home office or the home arsenal..

Yes, CISPA has passed the house so far, and it will likely pass the senate as well. The problem with internet legislation, just like gun control, is it is written by men and women who claim to be “experts” in the field, yet have no working knowledge of the subject matter.

This can clearly be seen by the infamous Carolyn McCarthy “shoulder thing that goes up” gun control comment, as well as rep. Mike Rogers claim that the only opponents of CISPA are “14 year olds hiding in their basement.

He completely ignores the fact that this legislation not only encourages companies to aggressively seek out personal info on individuals (which could easily lead to that info being stolen) but actually gives them immunity from doing so when they use methods that break their own privacy policies AND the law.

It’s bad enough that tech giants like Google and Facebook have already been aggressively collecting personal info (and selling it to marketers in some situations) but now they are given protection for doing it…

Anyway I look forward to seeing more of the v7 home office build. if its possible, could you take more pictures of the setup process, I’m interested to see how you handle keeping all those cords and wires so neat and orderly. I never can get mine quite right, especially finding VGA and DVI cables long enough…

Reminds me of that other clueless individual who publicly said that there should be limits on the length of the barrel because high powered rifles have long barrels so having shorter ones for all guns would be better. GEE!!! 🙂

As for the Office v7. It’s finally done! As of two nights ago when the new NAS server was delivered. Now I just need a few days to get things up and running the way it was intended and then I can start taking pictures and creating the new pages on the website (which in itself will take a bit of time, well, that and sorting out pictures and picking the good ones… it’s difficult this time around because the setup is different and lens-wise I have to shoot most of it at wide angles).

But I plan to also write up a whole new “making of” page with more details about all of that.

DVI cables are a pain in the butt to deal with. I’m running more than I can count here and I have them in just about every length imaginable because you don’t want to use excess cable length if you can get away with something shorter, but if it’s too short you risk not being able to move things out of the way when needed because things are too tightly tethered. But just as with every other type of cable, the real trick in managing it is velcro. Lots and lots of velcro!

Absolutely right concerning Barrel length.. Whoever suggested that honestly has no knowledge of ballistics. barrel length (long OR short) honestly has a negligible impact on performance. While a longer barrel does help a shooter to acquire a better sight picture, the main aspects that one should look at are barreling twist, barrel manufacture and ammo quality. That is why you can get better groupings with match grade ammo than you can with surplus ammo any day. The honest truth is, unless you are planning a shot past 200 yards, none of that matters anyway.

I typically use zip ties in my cabling projects, but I can definitely see the benefit of using velcro, especially after I installed a new desktop in my setup, and literally spent 5 hours having to cut ties and reroute everything to get my setup like I wanted…

I’m no professional by any means ( I’m teaching myself C++, Java, and various web languages) and as such I typically use my monitors to display my IDE on my primary monitor, with documentation on the secondary and tertiary monitors. With HTML/PHP/CSS work, I use the tertiary monitors for displaying a live feed of my work.

I have enjoyed this discourse, but I understand that time is money, so I won’t tie up your time any further. 🙂

I understand your view but personally i prefer the robber and myself to be without a pistol. That way whoever wins probably won’t kill the other.
But I’m from Germany and think it’s normal that guns are only saled under strict restrictions. But anyway show us your new finished office! :p